Baby Daddy
by FangirlingForLife
Summary: After Aria and her daughter find themselves with nothing to do on a rainy day, Aria begins to tell her daughter the story of how she and her father really met, bringing up old feelings from Aria's past. Ezria/Jaria/Naria. Also major Spoby, Haleb and Emison.
1. A Rainy Day

_August 1st 2026_

Aria smiled as she felt a small hand poking her arm, she opened her eyes and saw her 8 year old daughter standing by her bed. She shuffled over, making space for her daughter on the bed.

"Summer's come," Aria sung as she cuddled her daughter close, Summer giggled at her mother's antics.

"What are we doing today mommy? We can't go to the park because it's raining," Summer said pouting, Aria placed a soft kiss on her daughter's forehead as she thought about what to do.

"Hmm, movie day?"

"Okay mom, but only if I can pick the movies," Summer replied, causing Aria to grin. Summer was the spitting image of Aria apart from those piercing eyes, she definitely inherited them from her father.

"Which ones did you wanna watch?"

Summer grinned widely, "Uhm, Frozen, High School Musical and Wild Child!"

"I'll think about it. Anyway, what do you want for breakfast kiddo?" Aria asked as she got up and headed to the bathroom, with Summer following close behind her.

"Pancakes and bacon," Summer said as she picked up her toothbrush and began to brush her teeth, Aria nodded and the two started to brush their teeth in a comfortable silence. When they were done they moved into the kitchen where Aria began to make breakfast for herself and her daughter.

"I spoke to auntie Spence last night, she and Toby wanted to know if you want to stay with them and Taylor next Wednesday. I'll have to go into Hollis for the day but if you don't want to go I'll try and see if I can go in another day," Aria explained to her daughter, Summer shook her head and helped her mom make the pancakes.

"I love Spencie and Toby and Taylor! This summer vacation is gonna be awesome!"

Aria smiled as she looked down at her daughter, "I understand if you want to go to Europe with your dad, you don't have to stay here with me."

"I'd rather stay, my evil stepmother is going," Summer replied wrinkling up her face, Aria let out a giggle and kissed the top of her head.

"Maybe next year I'll take you to Iceland or we could do a road trip?" Aria suggested, Summer nodded happily in agreement, "How about both?!"

"We'll see," Aria teased, the two finished making their pancakes and settled down at the table.

"Can we go back to New York one day? I loved it there!" Summer exclaimed causing Aria to grin, knowing that when she was around Summer's age she had told her own mother similar words.

"Well if it wasn't for your father living here and all of your aunties and uncles, I think I'd like us to live in New York," Aria confessed.

"One day, mommy. When I become a famous writer, I'll buy us a huge mansion in New York just for me and you!"

Aria's smile widened as she listened to her ambitious daughter, "I'd like that very much sweetie, but what about your father? I know you're not keen on his new wife but he does love you."

"I know, but I love you more mommy. When are auntie Em and auntie Ali coming back from Paris?" Summer asked, Aria finished her mouthful of pancake before she answered. "Next Friday, how about we all go out for a meal after they get back?"

"Can Taylor, Olive, Lucas and Kensi come too?" Summer asked referring to Spencer's and Toby's daughter and Hanna and Caleb's children.

Taylor and Olive were both Summer's best friends, but she was still close to Kensi and Lucas even if there was a slight age gap between them.

"Sure, I'll ask Spence, Toby, Caleb and Han later I'm sure they'll all want to come."

Summer looked up at her mom, for a young child she was very bright and picked up on emotions very well, "Mom do you ever get lonely?"

"Of course not sweetie, why would you ask?" Aria lied slightly, surprised by her daughter's question.

"I mean auntie Em has Ali, Spencer has Toby and Hanny has uncle Caleb. You don't have anyone."

Aria smiled weakly and ruffled her daughter's hair as she collected their plates and put them in the dishwasher. "I have you don't I?"

"Yeah," Summer grinned goofily, "Mom, I want you to tell me the story of how you met my dad."

"What?" Aria choked out, spluttering slightly.

"I'd like to know how you met my dad," Summer repeated firmly, Aria nodded and sighed.

"I knew this day would come sooner or later , although I would've hoped it would be later. How about I make us some drinks and then I'll tell you? It's a long story.."

Summer nodded, "Thank you mommy."

Aria soon made Summer her favourite drink, hot chocolate, and herself a coffee. She grabbed a blanket off of her bed and brought it into their living room of their cosy apartment. Aria spread herself out on the sofa next to Summer and put the blanket over them.

"Before I begin, what got you so curious about me and your father?" Aria asked intrigued, they rarely ever talked about him and when they did it was usually Summer complaining about her stepmother.

"Because mommy, I've heard all the wonderful stories about how Nanna and Pops met and how auntie Han met Caleb. I want to know how you and dad met. You're sad, mom I can tell," Summer replied as she sipped her hot chocolate, Aria realised that she'd never given her daughter enough credit for being so mature, even her personality mirrored Aria's.

Aria huffed and smiled, "How are you so smart for an eight year old?! I get it, be prepared. This may be a long story, are you ready?"

"Hold on," Summer said as she ran to her room and grabbed her stuffed pig, a toy that Aria had given her the day after she was born, Summer came racing back into the room and took her place on the sofa and wriggled around to get comfy. "I'm ready,"

"Okay. So where do I begin?"

** AN: So I was watching the film Definitely Maybe and this idea just came to my head, I guess it's sort of similar but I'll try to make it more of my own. I'll continue if I get 8 reviews:) I know this is quite short but the rest of the chapters will be longer! **


	2. It Happened One Night

**AN: I am not going to use A in this story and Alison will be a lot nicer!**

_September 3rd 2014_

"Aria, wake up honey!" Ella called as she knocked on Aria's bedroom door.

Today was her first day back at Rosewood High as a senior, her last year before she went off to college, which hopefully would be somewhere away from Rosewood. Aria sighed happily as she looked at the picture beside her bed, the picture of her and Ezra. Now that Ezra was working at Hollis, Ella had come to terms with their relationship, it was harder for Byron but he was finally getting there and for that she was grateful.

After Aria had finished getting ready she made her way downstairs where she found Spencer talking to her mom.

"Hey Spence," Aria greeted chirpily, Spencer raised an eyebrow at her questioning her happiness. All of the girls had been dreading school, even Spencer.

Ella chuckled, "She's going on a date tonight."

"Better not tell Hanna, she won't shut up about it all day," Spencer joked, Aria just shook her head and laughed.

"Too late, I called her last night as soon as he asked," Aria said as she grabbed her denim jacket and threw it on over her floral dress, she picked up her bag and gave Ella a quick kiss on the cheek.

"See you tonight Ella."

"Will you be home after school to get ready?" Ella asked before Aria could leave.

"Probably to pick up an outfit briefly and then I'm going over to Han's, you know what Byron would be like if I was here to get ready, he'd probably make me put on a garbage bag over any outfit I choose," Aria replied, Ella nodded and grinned, knowing that her daughter was probably right.

"Well I'll see you home by 11 and no later, it's a school night remember!"

"Fine," Aria sighed as she and Spencer walked out the door.

"So your mom is cool with you and Ezra?" Spencer asked as they walked to her car.

Aria nodded and smiled, "Yeah which is really great and my dad is starting to get used to the idea finally."

"So tonight, where are you going?"

"Cecconi's, the cute Italian restaurant in Philadelphia and then we're going to see a movie," Aria replied blushing as Spencer gaped at her friend, taking her eyes off the road as she drove them to Hanna's.

"You know how expensive that restaurant is right?!" Spencer asked in awe.

"Yes! So I need the perfect outfit!"

"Oh come on, Fitzy loves you in anything."

"So he asked you on a date?" Emily asked as she traced patterns on Alison's hands with her thumb.

Before Aria could even say anything Hanna replied for her, "Yes and he's taking her to Cecconi's, freaking Cecconi's!" Do you guys know how expensive it is there?! Why won't Caleb ever take me?!"

Everyone laughed as Hanna ranted, unaware that Caleb was stood 3 feet behind her. "Maybe that's because Caleb isn't made out of money," He replied, causing her to jump.

She immediately stood up and crashed her lips on his to greet him. "Well hello to you too."

"So Aria, what are you wearing tonight?" Alison asked once Caleb and Hanna had sat down.

Aria sighed, "I'm still not sure, should I go with my red backless or black strapless?"

"Black strapless," All the girls chorused, Caleb rolled his eyes and sighed with relief when he saw Toby approach the table.

"Finally another guy!" Caleb cheered as Toby sat down next to Spencer and placed a small on her cheek. Hanna slapped Caleb for his snarky comment and he groaned, causing everyone to laugh.

When everyone settled down, Spencer finally spoke. "Since I have the house to myself this weekend, how about on Saturday we all have a day in my hot tub?"

Everyone nodded and agreed happily, "Can I bring Ezra?"

"Of course! So everyone get to mine for 1 and you can all stay over to, we can use the barn," Spencer suggested causing Hanna to squeal in delight.

"Hanna!" Spencer groaned.

"What?"

"I get that you're excited, but can you please be excited at another decibel?!" Spencer asked, everyone laughed as Hanna began pouting, Caleb kissed it away lovingly and the group watched the cute display of affection.

Eventually the bell rang and everyone parted ways to their different lessons, Aria struggled to concentrate even through English as her excitement bubbled up in anticipation for her date later on.

After her 5th period she finally had a free period with Hanna and the two left school to go to Aria's to pick up any essentials, luckily no one was there so they were in and back out of the house again in 10 minutes. When they arrived at Hanna's house they headed straight up to Hanna's room and laid out everything they needed.

"Han do you mind if I take a shower?" Aria asked as she sat on Hanna's bed.

"Sure, you know where to find everything so go ahead. Hopefully Spencer will be here by the time you've finished your shower."

20 minutes later Aria emerged out of the bathroom wearing pyjama shorts and a vest top with her hair up in a wet ponytail.

"Is Spencer here yet?" Aria asked as she sat down on Hanna's bed.

Hanna nodded, "Yeah she went downstairs to get us some drinks, okay so where should we start?"

20 minutes later, after using two hair dryers on Aria's poor hair which was Hanna's great idea, it was finally dry enough to use a curling iron on. They enhanced Ari's natural curls with the curling wand before hairspraying it so it would hold.

Next Hanna began to work on Aria's makeup while Spencer sat and did their homework, making comments every now and then to reassure Aria that Hanna was doing a good job. Aria finally applied a peachy lipgloss herself as they finished and then headed off to the bathroom to get changed. A few minutes later she reappeared and both Hanna's and Spencer's mouths dropped when they saw her.

Aria had gone for her black strapless dress which just reached her knees and a pair of open toe heels which added at least 3 or 4 inches to her height.

"Ar you look gorgeous!" Hanna said as she hugged her friend delicately, not wanting to ruin Aria's perfect makeup or hair.

"Fitz won't be able to take his eyes off of you," Spencer commented as they all walked down the stairs, Aria blushed before correcting her that his name was Ezra.

"Okay well I better get to Ezra's now, see you two tomorrow!" Aria said as she gave her friends both one last hug before exiting the Marin house.

"You better call me first to let me know how it goes!" Hanna yelled as she watched Aria walk to her car, Aria grinned and waved at her friends before putting her bag down on the passenger seat and driving away.

"Time for you to go too Spence!" Hanna said as she gave Spencer a gentle shove.

"So this is your polite way of kicking me out?" Spencer replied laughing at her friend and shaking her head.

"I've got to be at the park by 6, catching that new Inbetweeners movie with Caleb, Alison and Em," Hanna said as she picked up a jacket and bag whilst Spencer gathered up her things.

"And you didn't ask me and Toby to come?" Spencer asked feigning hurt.

"No, because you told me you had dinner plans with the Tobster!"

Spencer groaned before gasping in shock, "Oh crap I completely forgot, I'll see you tomorrow Han!"

Hanna watched, laughing as her friend dashed out of the house and to her car, she gave Spencer a small wave before leaving her own house.

* * *

"Aria, you look-" Ezra said as his brain tried to form words, Aria blushed and leaned up to place a kiss on his lips, the kiss was meant to be sweet but soon turned passionate as it became more desperate and needy. His tongue traced her bottom lip and she parted her lips wider as he slipped his tongue in.

"Beautiful," He finished when they parted. Aria grinned as he offered her his arm and she accepted willingly. He walked her down to his car and opened the passenger door for her in a gentlemanly fashion. He slipped into the drivers seat and drove them off to Philly.

Once they got to Philly, he parked in the car park near to the movie theatre and walked round to open Aria's door for her. He helped her out and shut the door behind her. They walked hand in hand to Cecconi's.

"Welcome to Cecconi's, how can I help you?" The waitress asked at the reception area.

"We have a reservation for two under Fitz," Ezra replied, the woman scanned the list before finding their names.

"Right this way," She said as she lead them to their table.

Soon after Aria and Ezra had sat down, they order some drinks and began to look over the menu. "So what would you like to eat?" Ezra asked as he saw Aria's eyes fixed on the menu.

"The vegetarian lasagne sounds good," Aria mused before rethinking her option, "Actually I'll go for the Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni, can we get some garlic bread to share."

"Sure, I'll go for the Calzone Cacciatore I think," Ezra said as he set his menu down.

The waiter soon came over and took their orders, as they waited they fell into a comfortable chatter.

"Are you busy Saturday? We're all going over to Spence's and her parents will be out so we can use the hot tub," Aria explained, grinning as Ezra nodded happily.

"Sure, but would your friends feel comfortable with me there you know, after being their teacher?" He asked sheepishly, Aria reached over and placed her hand on his, caressing his thumb gently.

"They love you, I promise."

"I'll go," Ezra said as he brought Aria's hand up to his mouth and kissed it delicately, Aria gave him a sweet smile.

"I love you."

"I love you too Aria," Ezra said just before their food arrived.

Once they'd eaten their main course and split a tiramisu between them for dessert, Ezra paid for their meal and the two left the restaurant and headed across the road to the theatre.

"So what movie are we seeing?" Aria asked as she felt for Ezra's hand.

"You'll find out in a minute," He replied smirking, knowing that Aria was desperate to find out, she'd practically begged him the night before to tell her what they were doing.

Once they approached the theatre Aria looked up at the sign and gasped in surprise, "It Happened One Night?"

"Let's just hope this time we don't bump into your mom," Ezra joked as he kissed her cheek and went off to pay, he came back with two tickets, two cokes and a large popcorn for the two to share.

"Oh Ezra," Aria sighed happily as they took their seats at the back, luckily for them there were only a few people watching the movie so they spent the entire time stealing looks at each other and making out.

Once Ezra drove himself and Aria back to his apartment, she pulled out her phone and texted her mom to let her know she'd be back soon.

"I had a wonderful night Ezra," She said as she stepped out of his car, he walked her over to her car and gave her a sweet kiss.

"I'm glad, are you coming over tomorrow?"

Aria nodded, "What time are you getting away from Hollis?"

"Hopefully about 3, if I'm not there when you get here just let yourself in," Ezra replied before leaning in to kiss Aria one last time. When she finally got into her car and drove off, Ezra felt like kicking himself, hoping tomorrow he'd finally get the courage to tell her what he so badly had to tell her.

* * *

"So you dated your teacher?!" Summer asked her mom in shock, Aria nodded and blushed.

"Age was never a problem between us, I really loved him," Aria confessed, she could feel the tears welling up but pushed them away, not allowing herself to be that weak in front of her daughter.

"So what did he have to tell you?"

**AN: So a couple of you are asking who Summer's dad is, she obviously knows but you guys won't find out just yet and it might not be who you think;) If this gets 8 or more reviews I'll have the next chapter up by Sunday and let me know who you want Aria to end up with in the end!:) **


	3. New York New York

_September 4th 2014_

The next day after school Aria found herself dancing up to Ezra's apartment, still glowing from the day before. It hadn't gone unnoticed that she'd radiated off happiness all day, as her friends had all pointed out several times, especially Hanna.

She knocked on the door in a rhythmic tune, half disappointed when he didn't answer. She lifted up the mat and took the key before letting herself in, a pattern that had become all too familiar to her. She sent a quick text to Ezra letting him know she was there before making herself a cup of coffee and settling down in his apartment.

Just as she was about to call him to find out where he was, his house phone began to rang making her jump. She let it go to voicemail, not wanting to pry but felt a wave of shock go through her as the voicemail played, "Hi this is Jack Evans from NYU just calling to say that you've got the job and we would be delighted to have you join us next January. Please call back as soon as possible."

Aria felt the tears prick her eyes as she felt a wave of realisation hit her, if he took this job he'd be over an hour away from her. She shook her head to try and get rid of these thoughts she couldn't be so selfish. Ezra had always told her about his love for New York, who was she to stop him from achieving his dreams.

She paced around his apartment, unsure of what to do and whether or not to leave. She debated calling Hanna but she them realised she should probably talk to Ezra about it first. Just when she was about to give up and leave, Ezra showed up surprised to find her pacing around, she usually had an old movie on or was doing her homework.

"Is everything okay Aria?" He asked as he walked towards her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, she nodded stiffly and sat beside him as he took a seat on the sofa.

"How was your day?" She asked weakly, glad that he didn't hear the slight crack in her voice.

"Tiring, but I was glad to find you here. Sorry I'm so late, your father wanted the whole English department to stay behind for a meeting," Ezra said as he laid back and closed his eyes, Aria chuckled softly and moved closer to Ezra. He put his arm around her, with her head resting delicately on his chest. For just a second she forgot her worries, that was until Ezra reopened his eyes and saw his machine flashing. Aria tensed up as he pressed play and the message was replayed.

Ezra stopped dead when he realised what it was, now realising that Aria must've already heard it. "Aria I can explain.."

"I get it Ezra, I hear the way you talk about New York it's your passion, I'll support your decision to go," Aria said bravely as she held back more tears, Ezra caressed her cheek softly before kissing her temple.

"Aria, New York was my passion when I was younger, but that all changed when I met you. I found a new passion."

Aria blushed when she realised he was talking about her, "I don't want to stand in your way, we can find a way to make it work right?"

"Of course we can, we can get through anything," Ezra promised as she rested her head against his chest and his arms went round her protectively.

"You should at least call the guy back. See what else he has to say?"

Ezra released Aria and picked up his phone before dialling the number, Aria held his hand soothingly as he talked.

"How long do I have to make a decision?" Ezra asked, nodding to himself when he heard the answer.

"Okay thank you. I'll be in touch on Saturday then," Ezra said hanging up the phone, he turned back to a nervous looking Aria. "I have until Saturday to make a decision."

"I want you to take it Ezra, this is a great opportunity and you never know when it might open up again. If you don't go I will never forgive myself for standing in your way," Aria said with tears streaming down her face, Ezra wiped them away delicately before pulling her into a warm embrace.

"You could always come out here for college, you could come and live with me and we could start a life together in New York?" Ezra suggested hopefully.

"I've had my heart set on UCLA for years I'd need to explore my options in New York too. The bad thing about UCLA is that it's over-"

Ezra cut in," 2700 miles from New York. If your heart is still set on UCLA then maybe in a years time I'll find work in LA and I'll join you, we're going to make this work," Ezra promises, kissing the top of her head.

* * *

_September 8th 2014_

"So he's just moving to New York?!" Hanna asked furiously as Aria told her the news shakily, she'd waited until Saturday before telling her friends now that she knew what Ezra's decision was.

"Yes, but please don't mention it today. I want to try and enjoy my time with Ezra before he goes," Aria said letting a tear trickle down her face, Emily immediately pulled her into a hug.

Hanna, Spencer and Alison all took turns to hug Aria comfortingly. "What are you gonna do about college? Do you still want to come out to UCLA with me and Caleb?"

Aria nodded, "I think so, for now anyway. Ezra said that if I choose UCLA he'll try and find work over there."

"We'll all be fairly near to each other with me at Stanford and Em and Ali at Berekley," Spencer said trying to comfort Aria, Aria nodded and wiped away her tears.

"So what time are the guys getting here?" Alison asked trying to change the subject, Aria gave her a grateful smile.

Hanna looked down at her phone, "Caleb said between 1 and half past and Toby's probably with him so they'll be here soon."

"Anyway, let's not talk about boys. Why don't we all go in the hot tub?" Emily suggested, Hanna cheered and the 5 all stripped down to their bikini's and got into the hot tub.

Aria finally let out a smile, "Now this was a good idea."

"How about I go and make us some drinks?" Spencer suggested as she clambered back out of the hot tub.

"Margaritas would be nice!" Hanna yelled as Spencer walked away.

A little while later after Toby and Caleb arrived, Ezra arrived too. Aria got out of the hot tub immediately and made her way over to him as he walked through the Hastings' back gate.

"So have you called them yet?" She asked as she gave him a chaste kiss.

"I took the job."

Aria could feel the tears in her eyes but kept them at bay, "That's- That's wonderful Ezra I'm so happy for you."

"I actually came here to tell you I can stay here today, I've got a meeting with the dean in New York, how about I see you tomorrow instead? We can go to the movies.."

Aria nodded before kissing his cheek, "Sure I'd love to."

Aria watched as Ezra walked away, finally breaking down into tears as he left. Everyone rushed over to her, Caleb and Toby stood in confusion as to why she was crying, Hanna explained and Caleb put his arm around Aria in a brotherly fashion.

"He took the job, by January he'll be gone."

* * *

_September 23rd 2014_

"Aria?" Ella called as she knocked on her daughter's bedroom door, Aria opened it reluctantly.

"Byron told me about Ezra," Ella confessed, Aria nodded mutely as her mom flung her arms around her comfortingly. Aria hugged back tightly.

"Sorry I didn't tell you, it's just I feel like if I say it out loud, the more real it becomes."

"I understand, you two have been through a lot already Aria, you'll get through it easily," Ella promised as she sat down on Aria's bed.

"It doesn't seem that easy."

"And it won't at first but it will get easier as the time goes on. How about you invite Ezra over for dinner tonight? Byron was actually the one that suggested it," Ella said laughing at Aria's surprised face.

"Okay I'll text him now," Aria replied pulling her phone out of her pocket and typing a text to Ezra.

**My parents asked if you wanted to come to dinner? -Aria xx **

Ezra typed a quick reply, confirming that he could make it and that he'd be there about 7.

"Ezra says he'll be here around 7, is that okay?" Aria asked, her mom nodded and gave her one last hug before she went off to start the dinner.

Once Ezra has arrived, Aria had pulled him up to her room after Byron told them to keep the door open. She obeyed her father's rules and left the door open as they sat down on her bed.

"Close your eyes for a second," Ezra said, Aria closed them after raising an eyebrow questioningly at Ezra.

Ezra gently placed a necklace around her neck before clasping it together. Aria opened her eyes and looked down, gasping when she saw a silver chain with the letter A on it.

"Ezra it's beautiful," She said tearily as she pulled him in for a passionate kiss, Ezra slipped his tongue in and Aria reacted right back by moving her own tongue against his. He moved one of his hands to her jaw as he deepened the kiss and placed his hands on her waist as she moved to lie on top of him. They parted immediately when they remembered where they are, luckily after they parted Byron came upstairs to announce dinner.

"Dinner will be ready in a minute, you two want anything to drink?" He asked politely, despite knowing what they had probably just been up to.

"Uh can I have a glass of red wine please dad?" Aria asked sweetly, knowing her dad would never say no, he nodded with a smile and turned to Ezra.

"Would you like wine or a scotch or water?"

"Scotch please Mr Montgomery," Ezra replied almost kicking himself, Byron chuckled and shook his head as he walked back downstairs.

"I thought you didn't like the scotch Byron drank?" Aria asked giggling as she pulled him up off of the bed.

Ezra grinned, "I don't but I have to get into your dad's good books somehow."

A few minutes later they took their seats at the table and started on their meal, at first the silence was a little awkward until Aria ended it, wondering where her younger brother was.

"Hey where's Mike today?" She asked looking at his usual seat which was empty.

Byron swallowed his mouthful of food before answering, "He had lacrosse training and then went to the Kahn's house after, he'll be back around 10."

"I never realised he and Noel were close friends," Aria muttered to herself feeling slightly confused.

"They started talking at Lacrosse training one day, you know what guys are like with their sports," Ella said rolling her eyes and causing Aria to grin as she ate her food.

The rest of the meal continued on in a polite manner, Byron asking Ezra questions in an attempt to get to know him better and Ella teasing Byron about grilling Ezra all the time.

Once they had finished, Mike came stumbling in, surprised to see Ezra. He opened the door wider and let Noel in.

"Hello Mr and Mrs Montgomery, Aria and- Mr Fitz?" Noel asked questioningly as he raised an eyebrow at Aria who had her hand on Ezra's leg.

"Hi Noel, you know by now that you can call us Ella and Byron," Ella replied as she gave him a warm smile.

"You guys hungry? We've just eaten so I can order you a takeaway?" Byron asked as he helped his wife clear the table.

"No we ate at Noel's, you guys don't mind if Noel stays over do you?" Mike asked, Ella and Byron shook their head and welcomed him in.

Ezra looked at the time before realising he still had marking to finish off. "I better go now, I've still got some papers to mark. Thank you for the lovely dinner Ell. And thanks for the great scotch Byron," He said shaking their hands. Aria grinned at his last statement as she walked outside with him.

"Thanks for the great scotch?" She teased gently, Ezra laughed and shook his head.

"It just came out..Anyway I really do need to get home now so how about you come over to my place next Saturday and we spend the whole day lazing in bed and watching old movies?" Ezra suggested, Aria nodded eager to spend more time with him before he left for New York.

"Sounds good to me," She replied before placing a delicate kiss on his cheek. He got into his car and waved at her one last time before disappearing. Aria waltzed back into her house with a huge smile on her face which did not go unnoticed.

* * *

"He took a job in New York?!" Summer asked in shock as he mom felt tears prickling her eyes, she kept them at bay not wanting to upset her daughter.

Aria nodded, "After I found out we spent as much time together as possible, went on movie dates, went ice skating, we even spent Christmas together a few days before he left."

"So what happened when he was in New York?"

**AN: Thank you all for your kind reviews, they really mean a lot to me! If this chapter gets 8 reviews or more then I'll update by Tuesday:)**


	4. Summer Rose

_September 24th 2014_

The next morning Aria trudged downstairs, only to find that her mom and dad had gone out to some art gallery in New York and wouldn't be back until the next day. Aria sighed and poured herself a coffee, stupid stupid New York.

Forgetting that her brother and Noel were only upstairs, she thought that she now had time on her own and began to cry, unaware that she had an audience consisting of Noel.

"Aria?" He asked questioningly as he took a seat next to her, rubbing her back soothingly as she sobbed.

Aria sniffed before drying her tears away with her sleeve, "I'm sorry, I forgot that you and Mike were in."

"What's wrong?"

"Ezra's moving to New York in January, I know it's not that far but as soon as he moves, everything is gonna change," Aria explained as she sobbed into Noel's chest.

Noel gave her a sad smile as he kissed the top of her head, "Shh, it doesn't have to change if you don't want it to. You'll make it work, he'd be crazy to lose you."

"Why are you being so nice to me Noel?" Aria asked as she hiccuped, she and Noel shared a smile before she broke away from his hug.

"Since you're my best friend's sister and despite our differences, I do care about you," Noel confessed, Aria blushed and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about Ali breaking up you and that girl for me, we were all young and I had some stupid crush on you, I'm sorry," Aria apologised sipping her coffee.

Noel grinned, "Consider yourself forgiven, you know I can't even remember her name anyway."

"Wasn't it something like Breanna or Bella?"

"Something like that," Noel grinned.

* * *

_December 25th 2014_

"Merry Christmas Ezra!" Aria sang as she shook him awake, he grinned as he could smell cookies in the oven. She set down a mug of hot chocolate next to his bed and he kissed her gratefully.

"Merry Christmas Ar," He replied with a huge grin. She sat on the edge of his bed sipping her drink. Ezra took in her appearance appreciatively, she was only dressed in one of his T-shirts and a pair of his Christmas boxers, with Ezra wearing his other pair.

"So what's the plan for today?" Ezra asked, glancing at the Christmas tree they'd decorated together with all of the presents underneath.

"How about you go and shower, I'll take the cookies out of the oven and then we open presents? Maybe, if you're lucky I'll find a movie for us to watch," Aria suggested, Ezra nodded and placed a kiss on her forehead before he got up and walked into the bathroom.

Aria turned the radio on and sung along to Christmas songs as she took the cookies out of the oven and put them on a plate to cool down. Ezra emerged from the bathroom 20 minutes later and was greeted by Aria with a soft kiss.

She sat down by the Christmas tree and ushered him over, he sat next to her and sneakily took a cookie and shoved it in his mouth without Aria noticing.

"So which present do you want to open first?" Aria asked as she searched through the pile looking for presents with her name on.

"This one," Ezra said as he picked up his present and shook it, Aria giggled at his childlike gesture and picked a present up for herself.

Aria delicately unravelled the wrapping paper, finding a hardback copy of Winesburg Ohio with a beautiful cover, whilst Ezra ripped the wrapping paper off of his present finding a recipe book, he grinned and leaned over to give Aria a kiss.

"I figured you could use it for when you're in New York, so you don't end up living on Mac and Cheese," Aria said laughing as his face lit up.

"I'll miss you Aria."

Aria shuffled over so she was sat next to Ezra, he wrapped his arms around her and she melted back into his chest, where she belonged.

"I'll miss you too, and this tiny little apartment," Aria confessed, letting out a sigh. Ezra quickly let go of Aria and found one of Aria's presents. He handed it to her and she delicately opened it, finding a small box. She quickly opened the box to find a key inside, she shot Ezra a puzzled look and he laughed before explaining.

"It's a key to this apartment, I decided not to sell it. Whenever you need to get away you can always come here, whether I'm here or not, this place is ours."

Aria smiled tearily at Ezra as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "I love you so much."

After they finished opening their presents, Aria gave her mom a quick call and wished her family a Merry Christmas before turning back to Ezra as they were picking out movies to watch, in the the end they both went for 'It's A Wonderful Life'.

Throughout the movie Ezra concentrated on Aria, playing with her hands and her hair as she watched the movie intently, it had always been one of her favourites. "You're staring Ezra."

"I am not! Just admiring the view," Ezra retorted playfully as he captured her lips, their limbs entwining as they sat on his couch.

When Aria pulled away from the kiss she smiled, "I thought you liked this movie?"

"I do, I love it. But there are just some things I love more."

"You're sweet," Aria replied giving him a chaste kiss.

Ezra grinned, "And you're beautiful."

Before Ezra could say anything else, Aria sat up and ran to the window. "Look Ezra, the whole town is covered in snow!"

Ezra got up and wrapped his arms around Aria from behind, the two watching the snow falling. "How about we go and make a snowman?"

"Okay!" Aria cheered as she turned around to kiss him before throwing her clothes on and wrapping up in a warm coat and gloves. Ezra did the same and followed her out of the door, locking it behind him.

"You know I think this is one of the best Christmases ever.." Aria contemplated as Ezra swooped her up in his arms and carried her down the stairs. He grinned as started kissing along his jaw line and down to his neck.

"Only one of them?" Ezra asked raising an eyebrow as they reached the lobby, Ezra set Aria down gently and the two raced outside.

After two hours of countless snowball fights and collecting snow, they finally finished their lopsided snowman. "It's beautiful," Aria giggled as she snuggled into Ezra's side.

Ezra chuckled and kissed the top of her snow covered head, "Very."

"As much as I love the summer, I love the winter too," Aria said sighing happily as she and Ezra walked back up to his apartment hand in hand.

"Why do you love summer so much?" Ezra asked grinning as she danced over to his apartment door.

"The vibrant colours, the long hours of daylight. Everything seems happier in the summer. Plus, I get 3 months off with you in the summer," Aria explained, kissing Ezra before taking a drink out of the fridge.

"When you put it that way, summer doesn't seem so bad.."

* * *

_February 14th 2015_

After not seeing Ezra in 2 weeks, Aria began to really notice his absence. Of course everything had changed since he left, she rarely spoke to him and she never saw him. So when he called saying he'd be back for Valentines day, Aria couldn't help but get herself overexcited.

Her friends had all helped her pick an outfit out and decorate the apartment in rose petals and candles, waiting for him to arrive. She was surprised when the door knocked early, it was only 6:30 and Ezra wasn't due back until 7.

"Mrs Rosenthal?" Aria asked, puzzled as she opened the door to Ezra's old neighbour.

"Hello Aria, you mentioned Ezra was coming back today so I made the two of you a pie, to welcome him back," Mrs Rosenthal explained as Aria let her in.

"Mm Key Lime Pie? Thank you! Ezra will be back soon you can wait for him to arrive with me if you want?" Aria offered, she and Mrs Rosenthal had become quite close with Aria spending more time at Ezra's apartment alone.

"How about I pop by later? I don't want to intrude on yours and Ezra's private time," Mrs Rosenthal said as she glanced at all the rose petals around the apartment.

"I'll come and let you know when he gets here," Aria replied, she let Mrs Rosenthal out and went back to the sofa, waiting alone.

15 minutes later, Aria sat up excitedly when she heard her phone off. Seeing that it was Ezra she answered immediately.

"Ezra! Are you nearly here?" Aria asked excitedly, her smile fading when she heard Ezra sigh.

"One of the supervisors for the Washington DC trip got sick so they asked me to take their place, I would've called you but I've only just got signal and I had to pack earlier. I'm so sorry Aria," Ezra said, causing Aria's heart to break a little.

"Okay well we'll talk tomorrow?" Aria asked her voice cracking.

"Of course, I love you."

Aria hung up, hugging her knees close to her chest as she cried into her lap. She heard a knock at the door and got up to answer it.

"I heard crying?" Mrs Rosenthal asked worriedly as she saw Aria with tears streaming down her face.

"Ezra's busy so he couldn't make it," Aria explained sadly as she and Mrs a Rosenthal sat down.

"I'm sorry dear, I know you were looking forward to seeing him."

"He's hardly there anymore and when he is there, he's different. Today was meant to be so special," Aria sobbed, Mrs a Rosenthal gave her a small hug.

"Aria, why don't you call some of your friends and go out somewhere. You're still young and you deserve to have a good night."

Aria nodded, "You're right, thank you Mrs Rosenthal."

"If you're still feeling upset tomorrow then just come by and I'll bake you something else," Mrs Rosenthal said as she stood up and let herself out.

Aria sat on the sofa staring at her phone, wondering who to call. She couldn't call any of her friends because she knew they'd be busy with their significant others. She didn't want to go home because she knew that her brother would be in with Mona and her parents were out so she didn't want to call her mom.

She racked her brain for people who she could go out with tonight and only one name stood out, she found the name on her contact list and quickly pressed call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's Aria Montgomery. I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go out somewhere tonight, if you weren't busy?" Aria suggested, hoping she didn't sound desperate.

"Of course Montgomery, aren't you with Fitz though?"

"Uh no, I'll explain later if you're lucky. How about you come over and then we'll pick somewhere to go," Aria suggested, she gave the person the address to hers and Ezra's apartment and hung up.

She stood up and went to the bathroom, wiping off her smudged makeup and reapplying a new coat, making her face look fresh. 10 minutes later she smiled when she heard a knock on the door and went over to open it.

"Hey Montgomery," Noel greeted with his famous smile and a bouquet of roses in his hand.

"Come in Noel."

* * *

"Is that how I got my name? Because you loved summer?"

"Yes, it's always been my favourite time of the year and when I had you, you just radiated off so much happiness Summer was the only name that I liked for you," Aria confessed, smiling as she cuddled her daughter.

"And my middle name?"

"Rose? I guess it's after Mrs Rosenthal, her first name was Joan and I didn't think Summer Joan Montgomery sounded good, so I chose Summer Rose Montgomery."

"Why don't I have dad's last name?"

"So full of questions aren't you sweetie," Aria teased before answering her daughter's question, "You'll find out later on in the story."

** AN: Thank you for all your reviews and I hope you like this chapter! If I get 8 or more reviews then I'll update by Friday!:) **


	5. Heartbreak City

Just as Aria was about to continue her story, she was stopped by the buzzer on her apartment block, she quickly buzzed them in and sat back down next to her daughter. Throwing her daughter a puzzled look as they heard a knock on the door, reluctantly she got up and opened the door, greeted by Mona throwing her arms around her sister in law.

"Aria!" Mona squealed delightfully, wrapping her arms around Aria.

"Hey Mona!" Aria replied enthusiastically, Summer heard her aunt's name and immediately rushed over to Mona who picked her up and spun her around.

"Ugh Summer you're getting too heavy for this!" Mona teased as she put her niece back down.

"So how was your's and Mike's honeymoon?" Aria asked as she, Mona and Summer all headed into the kitchen. They sat down around the island counter and Aria began making coffee for herself and Mona.

"It was amazing! The Bahamas are beautiful, though me and Mike didn't get out of the hotel much if you know what I mean," Mona said winking at Aria who shook her head, Summer just sat there looking puzzled.

"Why, was one of you sick?" Summer asked, Aria held back laughter as Mona blushed.

"No Mike had bad diarrhoea."

Mona snorted with laughter at Aria's answer and Summer looked at the two adults before asking, "Mom, can we continue the story now?"

Mona looked up interestedly, "What story?"

"The story about my daddy!" Summer answered excitedly.

Mona turned to Aria, "The story of how you and-"

"Yeah how we met. So where did we get up to?"

"Valentines day 2014," Summer replied, Mona smirked.

"Oh that was a good year," She said sighing.

* * *

_February 14th 2014_

So this is Fitz place?" Noel asked as he stepped in and looked around.

"Yes, this is mine and Ezra's place," She corrected him, rolling her eyes but smiling as he handed her the roses.

"What are these for?" She asked as she found a vase in one of the cupboards and filled it with water.

"Well Fitz clearly isn't treating you properly on Valentines Day, so I am," Noel replied simply and shrugged.

"This isn't a date Noel," Aria reminded him as she shook her head and smiled at him, he smiled back and rolled his eyes.

"Aria, you're beautiful but I don't want to date you, I just want to be friends," Noel admitted.

Aria grinned, "Well then, thank you for the flowers friend. So what do you wanna do this evening? We could go out somewhere, there's not much to do here."

"We could go to Sean's party and get something to eat on the way?" Noel suggested, a Aria nodded and grabbed her bag.

"So friend, tell me what happened between you and Fitz."

* * *

After Aria and Noel had stopped off at the Apple Rose Grille to get something to eat, they jumped back into Noel's car and drove off to Sean's party. Once they stepped out of the car the two received a few weird looks and jealous glares. Noel guided Aria into Sean's house and into Sean's garage.

"Why are we in here?" Aria asked puzzled, Noel grinned and pulled two beers out of Sean's mini fridge.

"It's best to drink these than the ones in the kitchen, you never know what could be in the drinks out there," Noel replied shuddering from past experience, Aria giggled and took a sip of her beer before Noel lead her back out to the party.

She looked at all the couples on the dance floor, noticing some of them from her school. She quickly spotted Mike and Mona kissing in the corner before pointing them out to Noel.

"You think we should go over and see them?" Aria asked, a smirk playing on her lips.

"And cockblock Mike? Okay!" Noel agreed smirking as Aria took his hand and pulled him over to her brother and friend.

"Mikeeeee!" Aria cooed at her brother annoyingly, Mike pulled away from Mona and groaned as he faced his sister.

Mona let out a smirk and Mike's frustration, "Aria I didn't realise you were coming to Sean's?"

"I wasn't, but Ezra had other things to do so he cancelled our plans," Aria replied, trying to fake a smile. Mike and Mona gave her apologetic smile and looked down at Aria's hand which was still clasped in Noel's.

"How about we go take some pictures in the photobooth?" Mona suggested, clumsily stepping forward and almost tripping, Mike caught her just as she was about to hit the ground and Mona giggled, straightening herself up.

She grabbed Aria's hand and pulled her over to the photo booth with Mike and Noel following. "So what's going on between you and Noel? She whispered excitedly.

"Nothing, we're just friends. He took me out tonight to cheer me up," Aria replied before the 4 slipped into the booth.

After hours of photo taking, taking shots and dancing, Noel called a cab for the four and dropped off Mike and Mona at the Montgomery house before dropping Aria off at Ezra's. Noel got out of the cab with Aria who kissed his cheek and said good night and waved at him before disappearing into the building.

* * *

_February 15th 2014_

Aria woke up to the sound of her phone ringing, she quickly moved to answer it but regretted that action as her head began to pound. She read the caller ID that said Noel and answered.

"Hey Montgomery," He greeted chirpily, causing Aria to groan.

"Ugh, why did we drink so much last night?!" She complained, he laughed at her tone.

"I don't know what you're complaining about, I've got Lacrosse practise!"

"Is Mike there too?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, I'll tell him you said hey. We gotta go now, coach is here," Noel said before hanging up. Aria got herself a glass of water and some aspirin before crawling back to bed for a few hours. She woke up again feeling much better, she padded into the bathroom and took a shower. Once she dried herself off and changed into fresh clothes she walked back out and found the key lime pie that Mrs Rosenthal had given her yesterday.

Aria sighed as she sat down and began to attack the pie with her fork. Despite having a good night out with her brother and her 2 friends, she missed Ezra. She looked up at the picture of the two of them and sighed. Setting the pie down, she curled up into a ball and texted her friends.

A knock on the door brought Aria back into reality and she wiped away the tears she hadn't realised had formed. She opened the door, surprised to see Ezra on the other side. She flung her arms around him, he immediately wrapped his arms around her and liftwd her up so their faces were level. Aria kissed him passionately, almost unsure that he was really there. He set her back down and she pulled him inside before shutting the door.

"I thought you were in DC?" Aria asked as they sat down on the couch.

"I was but everyone got food poisoning from the chicken when we stopped off for something to eat," He said grinning slightly.

"Wait, then why aren't you ill?"

Ezra grinned sheepishly, "After two years of eating meals with my vegan girlfriend, I guess I picked up her eating habits."

"I missed you Ezra," Aria sighed happily as she looked at Ezra.

"I think we should talk."

Aria looked puzzled, "Okay, what about?"

"I don't think that I can come to LA when you start at UCLA," Ezra admitted causing Aria's heart to break a little at his confession.

"Oh, okay. But what about all the distance? I mean it's not exactly like we see each other anymore now," Aria said, this time Ezra's heart broke, he now realised how much he'd neglected Aria and how it wasn't fair to her.

"I'm sorry Aria, I never meant to neglect you. You know that I will always love you, but I don't think we can continue in this relationship," He let out, as much as he loved her he had to let her go, she had her whole life ahead of her and she was right, there was so much distance between them.

"We, we're breaking up?" She stuttered as the tears fell from her eyes. He nodded gently as tears spilled from his eyes too.

"This isn't fair on you Aria. I will always be in love with you but you need someone that will always be there for you and it kills me that I can't be that guy," Ezra answered, wiping her tears away, his thumb caressing her cheek gently.

"Before I leave, can you just hold me? Just one more time?" Aria asked, Ezra wrapped his arms around her, holding on to her for one last time. A few minutes later she broke out of his hold and kissed his cheek, her eyes welled up with tears as she grabbed her bag, Ezra walked to the door with her and watched as she left. She turned round one more time to look at him before she disappeared. Her heart breaking just a little bit more.

Once she made it out of the building she pulled out her phone and dialled Spencer's number, luckily for her Spencer picked up on the second ring. "Hey Ar, what's up?"

"We broke up Spence," Aria sobbed she could hear Hanna in the background asking for Spencer to give her the phone. Spencer gave in and handed the phone to Hanna.

"Where are you?" Hanna asked once she had the phone.

"Outside Ezra's apartment," Aria replied sniffling.

"We'll be there in 10. Move it Spencer!"

As Hanna had promised, she and Spencer were outside Ezra's place in 10 minutes and Aria quickly hopped into the car. They stopped off at a convenience store on the way to pick up supplies and headed over to Hanna's house which was empty.

"Do you have pyjamas with you?" Hanna asked as she set down their food on the kitchen counter. Aria nodded and pulled them out of her bag. The three of them all got changed into their pyjamas and headed back downstairs with blankets. They spread out on the sofas with the food that Hanna had brought and watched movies, though Ezra never left Aria's mind once.

**AN: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've had some personal issues to deal with and I just couldn't write. If this chapter gets 8 or more reviews I'll update by Tuesday! Thanks for all your support:) **


	6. One New Voicemail

**AN: So I just realised I made a mistake on my last chapter, the date should've said 2015 not 2014, sorry if that confused anyone! Because I've got loads of coursework I will update at least once a week, but if I get 8 reviews I'll update on Wednesday. Enjoy:) **

_August 23rd 2015 _

"Pleaseeeee come to my party Ar. I know you still miss Ezra but this is our last chance as a group to party before we all go off to college," Alison begged as she and Aria walked out of the Apple Rose Grille with their coffees.

Aria sighed and gave in, Alison was right. She, Hanna and Caleb would all be miles away from the others when they were at college and it stung knowing that she'd be missing more people in her life. She'd seen Ezra at her graduation as she gave her speech, but before she could find him he completely disappeared, at first she'd thought it was just her mind playing tricks but her friends confirmed seeing him too, it gave her hope.

She brought herself back to the real world where Alison was still waiting for an answer, she gave her friend a smile. "Fine, but no trying to set me up with anyone!"

"Okay," Alison huffed dramatically before adding, "Could you invite Noel too? I know you've been hanging around with him a lot."

"I know, I know. But he's my friend, like a second brother to me. No one can ever replace Ezra, it's like he has this hold on my heart and I just can't seem to let him go," Aria confessed as she and Ali found a bench to sit down on.

"I understand Ar, I feel the same way about Em. She's been in Texas for what, 2 days? And I'm counting down the days until she gets back. When I saw you and Ezra together I saw true love. And when I look at Emily? I see everything I've ever wanted and so much more, she just, she just brought out the romantic side of me. What I'm trying to say is I know for a fact that Ezra still loves you and one day he'll come back for you, I just know it."

Aria hugged her friend tightly, normally she wouldn't turn to Ali for love advice, but seeing as Emily was in Texas, Hanna was in Maryland with her father and Spencer was at her Grandma's, Alison was the only one she could turn to and she was so glad she had.

"I know Berkeley isn't too far away, but I'm gonna miss you Ali," Aria said as she gave her friend a soft smile.

Alison grinned and nudged her friend, "Well then I guess you gotta help me plan this party properly then!"

* * *

_August 29th 2015 _

Aria let out a small sigh as she watched all of her friends out on the dancefloor enjoying themselves. She had to admit that she and Ali had done a pretty good job on the party, everyone looked as though they were having fun and enjoying themselves, everyone except Aria.

She headed out of the DiLaurentis' lake house and fumbled for her phone as she found a quiet spot to sit down. She immediately typed in Ezra's number, a number that was still all too familiar to her.

After it went to voicemail she sat silently for a second, debating whether or not to leave a message, she let the alcohol decide for her instead. "Ezra, I uhm I'm sorry for calling. I don't actually know why I'm calling but I just, I miss you? We ended things on good terms and I guess we never got to have that post breakup fight. I mean I'm so mad at you! You just one day decided to go to New York! What's up with that? I loved you more than anything Ezra and you took my heart and stomped on it. You were a coward Ezra, we could've had a future together. Marriage, kids. There was so much of the world we could've seen together and now I have to face it all alone because no one could ever replace you but you're gone.."

Once the voicemail cut her off she felt a large hand grab the phone off of her, making her jump. She turned around, about to yell at the guy when she realised it was Jason.

"Jason what are you doing? You scared me!"

Jason grinned sheepishly before shoving her phone in his pocket. "Isn't there some kind of party rule that says 'Friends don't let friends dial drunk'?"

This time Aria grinned, "I've only had about 4 shots of tequila! Or was it 5? I don't know! Don't be a buzz killer man!"

"You'll thank me for this tomorrow," Jason said as he turned her phone off and slipped it back into her bag.

"So why aren't you inside enjoying the party?" Aria asked as she and Jason sat down on the steps leading to the house.

"I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours," Jason compromised, Aria nodded and they sealed the deal with a pinky swear.

"Well," Jason hesitated before continuing, "I just had a really bad fight with CeCe and last time I saw her she was leaving with your friend's brother Eric Kahn."

"Ouch. What did you guys fight about?"

"Honestly I'm not sure, it was one of those fights that begins over nothing and turns into something you never wanted it to. You know what I mean?"

Aria nodded understandingly aa she thought about Ezra, "They happen to everyone I guess. For the record, I've been round the Kahn's house a few times and Eric really isn't that bad. I promise."

"Anyway I want to hear your story now. Why aren't you in there enjoying the party with your friends?" Jason asked, glancing at the house.

"You know about mine and Ezra's relationship right?"

"Fitz?" Jason questioned, Aria nodded and continued on.

"Well we broke up a little while ago, February to be exact. No matter what I do, I just can't let him go. I barely sleep without him, I just feel empty. It's pathetic I know but I just imagined spending my whole life with him, being married, having children, travelling. We had it all planned out and now that's just all gone. I'll never have that life."

Jason put his arm around her comfortingly, "It's not pathetic Aria, I can guarantee you that Fitz probably feels the same way and if not then he's an idiot. You'll still have that life, but with someone else who loves you just as much, if not more."

Aria wasn't sure if it was the drink making her act crazy but she was pretty sure Jason was leaning in closer to her. Making a rash decision she leant in closer until their lips were almost touching.

"Aria! There you are! We missed you inside," Alison slurred as she stumbled over to her friend and pulled her up after almost falling on top of her. Jason shot Aria an apologetic look and followed the two girls back inside.

Alison pulled Aria out to the dancefloor and the five girls swayed together as a slow song began to play. "I'm gonna miss you girls!" Hanna said weepily as she pulled her friends into a group hug.

"Hannnnnn, we won't be that far away," Spencer giggled out, Aria grinned as she realised she was the soberest of her friends. Spencer had always been the cheery drunk whereas Hanna was always the weepy but flirty drunk.

"Far enough, you're making me cry Spence," Hanna said tearily as she wrapped her arms around Spencer, frightening the poor girl. Emily laughed so hard that she dropped her drink on the floor, laughing even more she fell over, pulling Alison over with her. Aria stood next to Jason both laughing hard as they watched the scene in front of them.

"Bet you're glad you came back inside now," Jason joked as he elbowed Aria gently.

"For sure. They're so going to regret this tomorrow," Aria commented, glancing at all the people with their phones out filming them. Whilst Alison lay still on top of Emily, it looked like Hanna was trying to jump on Spencer.

Aria grinned as she craned her look for Noel in the crowd, he was supposed to be her partner in crime at parties, but had disappeared pretty early in the evening. Disappointed that she couldn't find him, she turned to Jason and held out her hand to him. "How about we go and find some more drinks?"

"Lead the way," Jason replied taking her hand, she clumsily made her way over to the table filled with drinks and shots. She grabbed a couple of pre poured tequila shots and handed a couple to Jason.

"You're not a lightweight right?" She asked, downing a shot.

"I could drink you under the table princess."

After taking a couple more shots, Jason and Aria both made their way over to the dance floor.

The next morning Aria woke up with a pounding head ache. She sat up from her place on the sofa and noted that her friends were spread around the room sleeping in uncomfortable places, along with some other people she recognised from the night before.

She turned to the side when she felt someone stir next to her, a shirtless Jason. Before she had time to take in his sculpted abs, her brother and Noel came bursting through the door with what Aria could guess was bags of food. Aria shook Jason gently to wake him up.

"Aria?" He muttered as he sat up, clutching his head.

Aria laughed and smiled. "Morning sleepy, got a bit of a headache?"

"Why is the room moving?" Jason questioned causing Aria to laugh, she rolled her eyes and pulled him over to the kitchen area where Noel and Mike were with the food.

"What did you get?" Aria asked chirpily as she dug through the bag excitedly.

Noel watched Aria happily, "McDonalds breakfasts. We figured everyone could do with something greasy."

"Good choice," Aria agreed as she picked a bacon and egg mcmuffin and a coffee from the drinks trays.

"I thought you were vegetarian!" Mike exclaimed at his sister causing her to blush.

"We all slip up sometimes! My time is now."

The three boys all rolled their eyes at her and picked out their breakfastes. A little while later everyone else had woken up and everyone began to help clean up

"Thank you for helping me plan this kickass party Ar," Alison said as she hugged her friend.

"No problem, we'll all have one more sleepover before we all go off to college right?"

Alison nodded, "Of course. See you tomorrow for coffee?"

"Sure, love ya!" Aria said hugging the blonde one more time.

"Love ya too," Alison replied as she watched her friend get into her car before disappearing.

When Aria finally made it home she was glad that her house was empty, she pulled her phone out of her bag and turned it on, hoping to get Mike to bring Mona and Noel over. She opened her call log and noticed that she'd called Ezra over 8 times last night.

Blushing furiously she dialled his landline, hoping he would answer so she could apologise. "Hello?" Aria said questioningly as someone answered.

"Hello, who is this?" A male voice asked.

"Hardy is that you? It's me, Aria!"

"Oh Aria! Hey, sorry Ezra's not here at the moment. Want me to leave a message for him?"

"Can you just tell him that last night I was drunk when I sent him all those voicemails and I'm sorry and can you just tell him I miss him and hope everything is going well for him."

"Of course, hows everything in Rosewood?"

"Good, getting ready to head off to UCLA next week. I didn't realise you and Ezra were living together?"

"Ah have fun at college. There was a fire in my apartment building so the damage is being repaired so Ezra let me crash with him. Sorry I'm gonna have to go now, someone's at the door."

Aria stared at the phone as Hardy disconnected, missing Ezra even more.


	7. Difficult Times

_August 1st 2026_

Aria and Mona both gave each other a smile as they heard the sleepy child in between them begin to snore. Aria gently lifted her daughter and carried her into her room. Once Aria returned to the living room she resumed her space on the couch and picked up her wine glass.

"It must be hard for you to talk about him," Mona mused as she took a sip of her drink.

"Who? Ezra?"

Mona nodded. "I guess I'm okay, it just brought up a few old feelings."

"Oh Aria honey, those feelings never left you. Even when you were with other guys, and might I say cute guys, your mind was always on Ezra and besides, you even work at Hollis now in his old office!"

"Well actually I didn't get a choice on where my office was so I had to make do and I always planned on teaching in Rosewood even before I met Ezra.." Aria defended, Mona smiled at her friend and shook her head.

"I still say it was fate that you got his office. Anyway, have you seen Noel lately? I haven't seen him since the wedding and apparently he's not answering any of Mike's calls."

"He was round here the other day babysitting Summer when I went out with the girls, I think he's working extra hard on promoting his new hotel in Philly at the moment," Aria answered as she refilled hers and Mona's glass.

"Wow that's great, I can't believe how successful they are. I mean he's got them in LA, Florida and even New York! He must be doing well, maybe I should've married him instead of your brother," Mona joked, Aria elbowed her sister in law gently and laughed.

"Well he's gonna be making even more when Em's restaurant joins his Rosewood hotel. It's crazy how popular 'La Vie est Belle' is! Remember when she first opened it in 2023 and how small it was?"

"I know! But uh I know I've been working with Han and Ali at their store for a while now but I was thinking about maybe opening a salon? I'd still need to talk to Mike about it but he's crazy supportive," Mona said as she opened up to Aria.

"I think you should do it, I'm sure Summer would be begging you to work there," Aria joked and the two of them laughed.

The two continued gossiping for a few more hours before Mona called a cab and Aria headed to bed, Mona was right, the feelings had never left her.

* * *

_August 5th 2026_

"Mom, can you please continue the story now!" Summer begged, after Aria had begun to tell the story on Sunday, the two had been busy right up until Thursday.

"Okay, so where did we leave off?"

"You'd just left the party."

* * *

_September 21st 2015_

After being at UCLA with Hanna, Caleb and Noel for a good 2 weeks, Aria had finally begun to settle in. Of course she missed her family and friends and Ezra, who she was desperately trying to forget, she found herself enjoying her English classes. She and Hanna had already attended one college party and Hanna was already begging her to go to another. Despite living with her three friends, she only ever really saw Hanna on weekdays. Her lesson times were similar to Hanna's so the two always walked round the campus in a duo._  
_

"You think we should FaceTime Ali and Em before the party? It's been like a day since we last spoke to them!" Hanna whined as she poured herself and Aria pre party shots.

"Why not? We're still got like half an hour until we need to leave," Aria commented taking the shot. Hanna quickly ran and got her iPad before unlocking it and calling Em.

After a few seconds Em's face appeared happily as she waved at her two friends. "Ali, Ar and Hanna are on FaceTime!"

"Hold on!" They heard Ali repy before her face appeared.

"How's Berkeley?" Aria asked as she gave her friend a small wave.

"It's good. We're thinking that we'll come down to LA with Spence and Toby in a few weeks to see you. How's UCLA?" Emily answered with a huge grin as she and Ali linked fingers.

"The parties are amazing! And my professor is hot, shame he's gay!" Hanna muttered, Aria nudged her. "Keep your hands to yourself, you've got Caleb!"

"Hey I'd never cheat on Caleb! I just like to admire others from afar!" Hanna joked, her friends all laughed at her and rolled their eyes.

About 20 minutes into their conversation they heard a jangling of keys outside their front door and Hanna jumped onto Aria. "Oh my god we're being robbed! We're about to get murdered!"

Alison and Emily watched laughing as Aria pushed Hanna off of her lap, "Han it's probably Noel, he texted and said he'd be back earlier."

"Oh right," Hanna mumbled as the door opened and she saw Noel.

"Hey you two, hey Ali, hey Em," He said as he waved at the two girls on the screen.

"Hey," They replied back. Aria quickly got up and pulled Noel out of the room with her. The three other girls all raised their eyebrows and shrugged.

As Aria pulled Noel into her room, he pushed her against the wall and his lips crashed onto hers in a passionate frenzy. She parted her lips for him and he slid his tongue in as the two of them fought for dominance. That was another thing, she had started seeing Noel unofficially, well more like friends with benefits, but Aria hated that term and she refused to think of them that way.

"Han's dragging me to another party in a bit, wanna come?" Aria asked as the two parted.

"With you? Anywhere _sweetheart,_" Noel answered, Sweetheart had become his nickname for Aria as well as some others that she would _not _repeat.

Aria straightened herself out before re joining Hanna and Caleb, who had just turned up, in the kitchen. "Ready to go?"

"Yep, Calebs driving!" Hanna cheered as she grabbed Aria's hand and the two danced to the car.

By the time they'd arrived the party was already in full swing. The music was blaring out of the speakers and people were stumbling around clumsily clutching bottles of vodka. Hanna led the group over to the drinks table and poured them all a cup of vodka each. Once Aria had downed a couple more drinks she gathered up the courage to pull Noel out onto the dance floor and the two of them began to grind. She glanced around looking for Hanna who had pushed Caleb into a corner and the two were in a deep make out session.

"Let's go somewhere more private.."

* * *

_December 20th 2015_

It had been Hanna that had found out about Aria and Noel first, she'd managed to successfully keep it a secret until Aria had confessed to the other girls. Spencer had been a little judgmental but eventually supportive, Alison had boasted about how she knew something was bound to happen, Emily was kind and supportive and Hanna, well Hanna was just Hanna.

The girls had all decided to come home for Christmas and were now discussing and swapping college experiences over coffee at the Apple Rose Grille.

"So Aria, how's everything going with Noel?" Alison asked, with her infamous smirk.

"It's good, I mean I'm not looking for a real relationship after Ezra so this whole deal works for me. But you know, he's not Ezra.."

Emily shot her smaller friend a sympathetic look and squeezed her hand comfortingly, "It will take you a while to forget Ezra I mean he was your first love, but I promise you'll find someone perfect for you one day."

"Did you get Noel a Christmas present?" Hanna asked as she took a sip of her cinammon latte.

"No, we agreed on no presents. Anyway Spence did you find a present for Toby in the end?" Aria asked the brunette sat next to her.

Spencer nodded, "I got him tickets to see his favourite band and a few other bits, I mean his birthday was only a few weeks ago so I got him his main present then."

"Just buy some lingerie and entertain him for a few hours, if you know what I mean," Hanna said as she winked at her friends, Spencer slapped her arm gently and the other three all shook their heads and laughed.

Before anyone else could comment, Arias phone lit up and Noel's face appeared. She quickly answered the call, trying to shoo her friends away.

"Hey Noel, what's up?" She asked knowing that it had to be something important, he knew better than to call her during her time with her girls.

"My parents are moving over to DC and they want me to go with them, I've been accepted to transfer over to Yale," Noel explained half heartedly.

"Noel that's amazing! I think you should go with them, Yale is an amazing school and from what I've heard I think you'd like it there!"

Noel grinned at Aria's enthusiasm, she never put her happiness before anyone else's.

"Okay I'll think about it, but you gotta promise me something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"We have to stay in touch, you're my best friend Aria and I couldn't lose you," Noel confessed, Aria smiled.

"Of course we will. Look I've gotta go because the girls are all trying to listen to our conversation, but I'll call you when I get in and we can go out somewhere to celebrate?" Aria suggested as she swatted Alison and Hanna away from her phone.

"Okay sounds good."

* * *

_August 6th 2026_

"Mommy, do we have to go out tonight?" Summer whined as she watched her mom apply makeup.

"I thought you wanted to go?" Aria asked, half disappointed.

Summer detected the disappointment in her moms voice, "I do it's just dad will be there and I really want to hear the rest of the story!"

Aria grinned, "Don't worry sweetie, all your friends will be there as well as all your aunties and uncles and anyway you love Em's restaurant."

"I can't wait to see auntie Ali and Em, do you think they brought me something back from Paris?" Summer asked excitedly.

"Of course they have, you know they love to spoil you."

Just as Aria had predicted, Alison and Emily had practically bought the whole Disney store's stock back for Summer. "Thank you Ali, thank you Emmy," Summer said as she hugged her two aunties tightly.

"It was our pleasure sweetie," Emily said softly as she took her seat at the restaurant table next to Aria and Alison.

Before Summer could sit down, her best friend Olive came rushing over to her and threw her arms around her. Aria looked up to see a very exhausted looking Hanna and Caleb walk in with their other two children Kensi and Lucas, Hanna spotted her friends and rushed over to them in the same way that Olive had rushed over to Summer.

After Spencer, Toby and their daughter Taylor had arrived they all took their seats at the table, despite two others missing from the table they decided to start on their meal anyway.

Halfway through their main meal, the group were interrupted when Summer's father and step mother arrived, very lately too.

"Hey Summer!" Her stepmother cooed fakely, Summer rolled her eyes and felt Aria squeeze her hand gently. "Don't worry I'm here," She whispered soothingly.

**AN: I'm soooo sorry I haven't updated in a while, the original piece that I wrote for this chapter didn't save properly so I had to rewrite it, sorry if it seems rushed but I wanted to post it as soon as possible for you guys. So next chapter you guys get to finally find out who the father really is! Also, I need help deciding who Summer's godmother should be as it will come up later in the story so please leave a review or message me about who you want it to be. 8 reviews and I'll update (hopefully) by Tuesday!**


	8. Beautifully Tragic

_August 6th 2026_

"Hey angel," Cooed Jason to his daughter.

"Hi dad," Summer said stiffly, Aria gave Jason an apologetic smile before getting up and taking her daughter outside.

Once away from the table, Summer burst in to tears, Aria's own tears formed as she held her daughter tightly. "Hey, sweetie what's wrong?"

"I just, he's here with CeCe and you're here with no one, why couldn't Ezra be my dad? He loved you mommy and it makes me sad that you never saw him again or heard from him, I wish he was my dad," Summer sobbed, Aria held her daughter closer and her own tears fell.

"You're wrong, I have you here sweetie. Your dad loves you very much even if he can't show it and as for Ezra, you're wrong again. Remember the story isn't over."

"You mean you saw him again?"

Aria's eyes sparkled, "Maybe you'll find out when we get home. We gotta get through this meal first baby but we can do this together okay?"

Summer nodded and smiled at her mom, "Love you mommy."

"Love you too, now why don't you go and get uncle Caleb to play with you and the others?" Aria suggested with a smirk, she knew Caleb would hate her later on for this.

She let out a smile when she watched her daughter rush back inside to harass Caleb with her friends and took her seat next to Emily. As Jason and Cece finished their meals, all the kids played around Em's restaurant whilst the adults were left to talk.

"Guess who," A male voice said creeping up on Aria as he covered her eyes with his hands.

Aria got out of her seat and wrapped her arms around her best friend, "Noel it's so good to see you again!"

Noel groaned as she squeezed him tightly, "Good to see you too Ar, but there's someone I want you to meet."

Aria raised her eyebrow and let out a smirk when Noel stepped forward with a tall, attractive male. "Aria, this is my boyfriend James, James this is my best friend Aria."

James stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Aria, "I've heard so much about you!"

"I wish I could say the same about you! Noel why have you never mentioned James before?" Aria asked as she watched Noel blush.

"We haven't been dating long," Noel defended, James squeezed his hand and Noel smiled.

"Well you two definitely have to join our table, we have a lot to catch up on!"

Noel took Summer's vacant seat and James grabbed a seat from a separate table and joined the group.

"Hey business partner!" Emily said excitedly as she hugged Noel from his chair.

"Hey Em!"

"Okay since the restaurant is about to shut for everyone else and most of the staff will be leaving, I'll whip you guys up whatever you want okay?"

"If it's not much trouble," James chimed in, Emily shook her head.

"Of course it's not. Pick anything!"

"Ah okay, I think I can guess that James will want the bbq chicken salad," James nodded and Noel continued, "And I'll have the house burger special."

Emily smiled and wrote down their orders, "Drinks?"

"2 light beers please."

Once Emily disappeared into the kitchen with Alison following her, Jason made his way over to Aria.

"Can I talk to you please? About Summer," He asked, Aria nodded at the mention of her daughter. She followed Jason back outside.

"So what's up?"

"I, I think maybe me, you and Summer should try to be a family, I can leave CeCe and we can try, for our baby girl," Jason said as he leaned in closer to her. Aria shook her head and pushed him away.

"Jason! You can't just leave CeCe like that! You knew that we could never be a family, why are you doing this now?"

"I know she's been cheating on me!" Jason slurred, "It took me a while to realise but I love you Aria! Give me one good reason why we can't be together!"

"Because I'm in love with Ezra! You can't just use me to get back at CeCe. I care about you Jason, I really do but we could never be together, I'm sorry," Aria said as she watched Jason break down in front of her. She pulled him into a hug as he sobbed.

"I'm sorry Aria, I just I don't know what to do anymore. I thought CeCe would change and I believed her. I feel so stupid you know?"

"Look, if you really want to leave CeCe, take the keys to my lake house. You can stay there until you sort things out okay?" Aria said as she fished through her bag and pulled out a set of keys. Jason took them gratefully and kissed her forehead.

"I'll be there 3 days at the most, after that I'll start paying you rent," Jason joked weakly.

"Hey don't worry about that, stay as long as you need. I'll call you a cab there, you're clearly not in the right mind to drive," Aria said as she pulled out her phone and dialled a cab company. She waited with him for the next 5 minutes until the cab arrived.

"Thank you Aria, I really am grateful to have you in my life."

Aria leant up and kissed him sweetly. "What was that for?" He asked confusedly as she opened the cab door for him.

"That was goodbye," She replied as she shut the door once he was in, she watched as he drove off and returned to her table once he was out of sight.

"Where the fuck is Jason?!" CeCe asked rudely as she saw Aria return alone.

"He wasn't feeling well, took a cab home. Maybe you should've taken better care of him."

"What did you fucking say?" CeCe asked, standing up.

"Just leave CeCe, no one wants you here," Hanna said standing up beside Aria, Spencer, Emily and Ali all followed Hanna's move.

CeCe let out a huff and stormed out of the restaurant, the girls all let out a laugh as she tried to push the pull door.

"Thank god that psycho bitch has gone," Hanna said relaxing.

"What's up with Jase anyway?" Alison asked, concerned about her brother.

"It's not really my place to say, but uh CeCe has been cheating on him, again."

"Uh that bit-" Hanna said before she was cut off by her youngest daughter Olive tugging on her arm.

"Mommy can I have another drink?"

"I'll get it," Em said sweetly as she took Olive's hand and took her over to the bar.

Once the group all settled down again Aria sat next to Noel again and began talking to James.

"So Aria, Noel told me that you're writing a book?"

"Well uh I've actually finished it, but I haven't told anyone except Noel yet. Have you ever heard of the book 'Beautifully Tragic' by E. Fitz? Well uh the main character Aria Montgomery, that's me.."

James broke out into a grin, "I know. I actually published the book."

Aria looked at Noel, lost for words.

"I met James at my hotel a few months ago and we had this amazing connection and when I got to know him I found out about his job and I just had to get him to meet you. I know this is a lot to take in, but he's close with Ezra and we both think it's about time you see him after all these years.."

It took Aria a few seconds to come to terms with what Noel had just confessed, "Wait so are you two actually dating or did Ezra set this up?"

Noel grinned, "No no. I am extremely in love with James, Ezra doesn't know anything about this. We actually want to help you, help you two to work things out together. We want to publish your book, you've let me read it I know it's practically a reply to Ezra's book, it's about your life as his book is about his. So what do you say? We publish this book and then maybe it will give you and Ezra a second chance?"

"O- Okay. Let's do it," Aria stammered as she let out a grin.

* * *

_August 7th 2026_

Aria shook her daughter awake excitedly, she'd just gotten off the phone to a James who'd promised to publish her book once it had been seen by an editor.

"Sweetie, I've got some really exciting news for you, but uh first I have to tell you the rest of the story," Aria said excitedly as she sat on the edge of her daughter's bed.

Summer yawned and opened her eyes, "Momma it's like 8am!"

"I'm sorry," Aria blushed guiltily, "It's about Ezra, but uh I guess I can wake you up again in a few hours."

"Well I'm awake now.." Summer said excitedly causing her mother to break out in a grin.

* * *

_January 4th 2019_

After finishing college, Aria felt a huge relief when she realised she'd be moving back to Rosewood, but now she was here everything began to remind her of Ezra again, literally everything.

Aria sighed as she felt her phone vibrating on her bed, seeing that it was Hanna she answered immediately, "Hey Han what's up?"

"Well the girls and I were wondering if you wanted to come out with us for drinks tonight. We know you've got loads of marking to do this weekend but one night won't hurt."

That was another thing that didn't make life much easier for Aria, she'd taken up a position as head of English at Hollis, if that hadn't reminded her of Ezra, being given his old office certainly had.

"Han I don't know, I need to start looking for a house too I mean I can't live at home forever.."

"It's just tonight and then tomorrow I promise I'll go house hunting with you and I'll even do your marking!" Hanna compromised, Aria laughed and shook her head.

"I'll come out, but I'm taking you up on the house hunting offer. So what time and where?"

"We're meeting outside the Grille at 9 before we hit the town and partayyyyy!" Hanna sung at her, causing Aria to pull the phone away from her ear.

"Sometimes I find it hard to believe you actually have kids," Aria joked, causing Hanna to gasp in mock anger.

A little while after they hung up Aria got herself ready and headed down to the Grille. Once she arrived she was greeted by her friends they all headed off to a bar in Philly where Aria's night really began.

After a couple of drinks Aria and her friends decided to head to another bar close by where they bumped into Jason. Once Jason had brought the girls even more drinks Aria began to feel ddhnj, and when Aria got drunk she got weepy.

"I mean I'm 23 now I should be happily married with kids and now I'm still living at home with no kids, what's that all about?" Aria complained loudly as she rested her head on Jason's shoulder.

"Hey you know what, we should have a kid together! I mean we're both good friends so it would work out well for the kid, I'm very financially stable and we both live close by. We should have a kid!" An equally drunk Jason said, causing all of Aria's friends to cheer.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, if it's what you want?" Jason questioned.

"Jason DiLaurentis, let's go make a baby!"

**AN: you know the drill by now, 8 reviews and I'll update by Friday/Saturday! Hope you enjoyed this story and you'll learn more about Ezra's book later on!:) Thank you for all of your support so far, you guys are the best! **


	9. Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

_May 19th 2019_

The symbol that changed Aria's life forever. The symbol that caused her heart to literally skip a beat, the symbol that she couldn't wait to show to her friends.

She stood up dizzily with excitement and found Hanna waiting in her bedroom excitedly.

"Sooo?" Hanna asked as she rushed over to her friend.

"It's.. It's positive!" Aria squealed wrapping her arms around the blonde.

"Ar that's amazing! I can't believe we're gonna be pregnant at the same time," Hanna gushed as she squeezed her friend, both had tears in their eyes.

"Well I need to go to the doctors to get it confirmed, but I just feel it, you know?"

"I know. I have an appointment next week, you should book one too and we can go together?"

"Sure, I'll call up tomorrow and book one then. So what's gonna happen to the store whilst you're on maternity leave?"

"Ar that's like 7 months away! But I'll only be working part time from now on, Ali said she'd take over for now until I've had the baby. I still have a say in decisions but she'll be running it," Hanna explained as she and Aria walked back into Aria's new living room.

"Shoot! I was meant to call Jason straight away," Aria said as she quickly pulled her phone out and dialled his number.

She sighed as soon as it went to voicemail, "Hey Jase, call me back as soon as you can? We have to talk!"

As soon as Aria hung up, she raised an eyebrow as she saw Hanna on the phone. "Hey Jason, looks like your sperm in a cup worked! Btw call your baby's momma back asap!"

When Hanna hung up Aria gave her a glare, "I cannot believe you just did that. Wait what am I saying? Of course I can believe you just did that."

"Anyway! What time should I tell the girls to meet us at the Grille? I uh still haven't told anyone my news yet so I kinda figured we should do it together."

"You mean I'm the only one you've told?" Aria asked, her face softening.

"Well yeah apart from Caleb obviously, I didn't wanna tell anyone until after my appointment next week but now you're preggo too I wanna tell everyone."

"I'm scared Han," Aria confessed as she reached out and squeezed her friend's hand.

"Me too Ar."

* * *

_May 25th 2019_

"Well Ms Montgomery I am delighted to say that you are 7 weeks along, just like your friend Mrs Rivers is. Come back in about 13 weeks time and I can then determine your baby's gender. I'll write down some notes for you to keep and follow in order to have a successful pregnancy but everything looks great so far," Dr Jones explained, Aria looked up at Hanna and the two shared happy grins.

"Can you imagine if our babies were born on the same day? That would be freaking amazing!" Hanna exclaimed once they finally came out of Dr Jones' office.

"Who knows, maybe we will! Thank you for coming with me today, I know you had your appointment too but you didn't have to stay."

"Of course I did! You were my ride here," Hanna joked, laughing as Aria elbowed her. "I'm kidding. But of course I had to, your my best friend Ar I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"This is gonna be one kickass pregnancy," Aria cheered as she and Hanna approached her car.

"That's the spirit! Now let's go get us some coffee."

"Han we're pregnant, we shouldn't be drinking coffee.."

"Man this pregnancy sucks ass already."

* * *

_July 29th 2019_

So far Aria's pregnancy had been great, despite morning sickness everything seemed to be going well. She missed her usual daily coffee but she didn't mind the sacrifice if it meant her baby would be safe. She'd let Hollis know that she was pregnant and was grateful at how they'd taken her news. Her family and friends had also played a huge part in the success of her pregnancy, supporting her in any way that they could.

Now that everyone was on summer break at Hollis, it meant Aria had more time to focus on getting everything ready for her baby.

"What colour do you want to paint the nursery for the baby?" Jason asked as he and Aria walked round the DIY store slowly.

"I was thinking maybe yellow? I don't wanna paint the room pink and then find out its a boy."

"Yellow sounds good. How about I get to work with Toby to make some furniture this weekend?" Jason asked as Aria looked at the different shades of yellow paint.

"That would be great, I mean if it's not too much trouble?"

"Of course not Ar, this is our baby. I want to do everything I can to help out," Jason said as he took the paint off of Aria and carried it to the till. She smiled gratefully and followed.

Later on Aria received a surprise when she walked in and found her four friends waiting for her.

"Guys what are you doing here?" She shrieked as she walked through her apartment door.

"Jason called and asked us if we could all help you decorate the nursery," Spencer explained as she stood up and hugged her friend.

"I love you guys," Aria said weepily, damn those pregnancy hormones.

"Hey we love you too! Now we've got a room to paint!"

By the time the room was half painted, Aria found herself covered in most of the paint.

"Guys maybe we should take a break, we've been doing this for hours.." Hanna moaned as she rubbed her back. Both she and Aria were slowly starting to show.

"Good idea! How about Ali and I do a coffee run?" Emily suggested, pausing slightly when Aria, Hanna and Spencer all gave her a glare.

"I mean ugh juice run?! Anyway Spence I thought you liked coffee, when do you ever turn it down?"

Spencer blushed and squeaked, "Ever since I found out I was pregnant.."

"What?!" All four girls shrieked at their friend before rushing over to her to congratulate her.

"Spence why didn't you tell us sooner?" Aria asked as she hugged her best friend.

"I only found out yesterday and I didn't know when to announce it," Spencer admitted almost quietly.

"I knew something strange was going on from the minute you turned down coffee," Emily teased as she took her turn to hug her friend.

"So does that mean you'll be lawyering part time and joining mine and Aria's baby club?" Hanna asked excitedly.

Aria rolled her eyes, "We do not have a pregnancy club."

"Oh I beg to differ."

* * *

_September 1st 2019_

"I am really pleased to say this, you are having a baby girl," Dr Jones announced as she, Hanna Aria both looked at the sonogram of Aria's baby on the monitor.

"Ar this is amazing! We're both having baby girls!"

"I can't believe.." Aria whispered, clutching Hanna's hand as she stared at her baby, completely awestruck.

Somewhere not to far away in the town of Rosewood, Emily was eating lunch in her restaurant when she saw someone she hadn't seen in a long time, someone no one had seen in a long time. It was Ezra Fitz.

She whispered to Alison who then subtly looked in Ezra's direction as he walked closer to her and Em.

"You think he's come back for Aria?" Alison whispered as he walked into the restaurant. Em shrugged at her fiancé and turned to Ezra.

"Ezra..What a wonderful surprise, what brings you to Rosewood?" Emily asked curiously as she stood up and shook his hand.

"Hi, uh I-" He stuttered before continuing, "Could you possibly give me Aria's address I need to see her, I'm moving back to Rosewood."

"Wow, Ezra haven't you heard? Aria's pregnant!" Alison said, soon regretting her words as his face paled and saddened.

"She moved on? Who am I kidding, of course she did. I'm sorry I shouldn't have come here."

"Wait, please. Trust me she's still totally in love with you, even after all these years. It's a funny story actually, well maybe not funny but the baby was a product of Jason's sperm in a cup. Okay maybe too much information there, but she wanted a baby badly and Jason offered to help her so that happened. Here I'll write down the address for you.."

Later on Aria returned home, finding a stuffed pig and a parcel outside her apartment door, she bent down carefully, holding her back as she picked the objects up. She unlocked her door and shuffled inside before tearing open the letter taped to the parcel, shaking as soon as she recognised the writing.

_My dearest Aria,_

_I know this letter is long overdue and well, I probably debated a thousand times before actually gathering up the courage to leave it outside your apartment. I want you to know that I am still 100% in love with you, I guess it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. _

_If you're wondering what the pig is for, it's for your future child. If anyone deserves to be a mom it's you. You meant the world to me Aria and I am so sorry I threw that away to achieve some stupid goal of living in New York. What kind've jerk does that?! Anyway, what I want to say is that maybe one day in the future, just maybe things will work out our way and we'll be happy. But until that day I must let go of you, be that wonderful mother I know you can be and please never think that I didn't love you. I always have and always will._

_Until we meet again, my sweet Aria. _

Aria found herself sobbing uncontrollably as she reread the letter over and over again before dialling Hanna's number and asking her friend to come over.

**AN: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't worry there's a lot more swest Ezria moments to come;) 8 reviews and I'll update by Wednesday! You guys inspire me to keep writing and I couldn't ask for better supporters so thank you!**


End file.
